Health-related quality of life results in pathologic stage C prostate cancer from a Southwest Oncology Group trial comparing radical prostatectomy alone with radical prostatectomy plus radiation therapy.

Purpose: To compare short- and long-term effects of adjuvant treatment versus observation after surgery on health-related quality of life (HRQL) of prostate cancer patients.

Patients And Methods: The Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG) intergroup trial compared radical prostatectomy (RP) plus observation versus RP plus adjuvant radiation therapy (RT). Two-hundred seventeen of 425 therapeutic trial patients were eligible and registered to the HRQL study.

Sorafenib with interferon alfa-2b as first-line treatment of advanced renal carcinoma: a phase II study of the Southwest Oncology Group.

Purpose: This phase II study evaluated the activity of combined treatment with interferon alfa-2b and sorafenib, a Raf and multiple receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor, in patients with advanced renal carcinoma.

Patients And Methods: Eligible patients had metastatic or unresectable renal carcinoma with a clear-cell component, no prior systemic therapy, performance status 0 to 1, and measurable disease. Treatment consisted of interferon alfa-2b 10 x 10(6) U subcutaneously three times weekly and sorafenib 400 mg orally bid.

Effects of transdermal estrogen on levels of lipids, lipase activity, and inflammatory markers in men with prostate cancer.

Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) for prostate cancer is now used in earlier disease stages and as adjuvant treatment. Recognizing and reducing the toxicity of this therapy, including worsened lipid levels and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risks, has become an important clinical concern. Oral estrogen therapy induces hypogonadism and mitigates many side effects of ADT, but has a high thrombosis risk.

Prostate-specific antigen decline after gonadotropin-releasing hormone antagonist withdrawal in androgen-independent prostate cancer.

A 66-year-old man with androgen-independent prostate cancer was treated with abarelix, a gonadotropin-releasing hormone antagonist, for 20 weeks in an experimental protocol. He did not respond to therapy, but his serum prostate-specific antigen level dropped from 15.8 ng/mL to a confirmed 0.

Phase II study of transdermal estradiol in androgen-independent prostate carcinoma.

Background: Oral estrogen therapy has activity in patients with hormone-naive and androgen-independent prostate carcinoma (AIPC), but its utility is limited by the associated risk of thromboembolic toxicity. Parenteral administration may be safer as it avoids "first pass" liver exposure to estrogen. The authors tested the safety and efficacy of transdermal estradiol (TDE), as well as the effect of therapy on hot flashes, sex hormones, the procoagulant cascade, and bone turnover in patients with AIPC.

Targeting FSH in androgen-independent prostate cancer: abarelix for prostate cancer progressing after orchiectomy.

Objectives: To determine the efficacy of the gonadotropin-releasing hormone antagonist abarelix in patients with androgen-independent prostate cancer progressing after orchiectomy and to measure its effect on serum follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH).

Methods: Sixteen patients with prostate cancer progressing after orchiectomy received abarelix-depot 100 mg by intramuscular injection on days 1, 15, and 29 and then every 28 days for up to 24 weeks (52 weeks in patients who met the criteria for a prostate-specific antigen [PSA] response after 24 weeks). PSA response was the primary endpoint and was defined as a 50% reduction confirmed 4 weeks later.

Phase II study of abarelix depot for androgen independent prostate cancer progression during gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist therapy.

Purpose: We determine the clinical efficacy of the gonadotropin-releasing hormone (Gn-RH) antagonist abarelix in patients with androgen independent prostate cancer, and measure its effect on serum follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and testosterone.

Materials And Methods: A total of 20 patients with prostate cancer progression during Gn-RH agonist therapy received 100 mg. abarelix depot by intramuscular injection on days 1, 15 and 29, and then every 28 days for up to 24 weeks.

High-dose weekly oral calcitriol in patients with a rising PSA after prostatectomy or radiation for prostate carcinoma.

Background: In preclinical systems, calcitriol, the natural vitamin D receptor (VDR) ligand, has been found to demonstrate antiproliferative effects, although concentrations > 1 nM are required. Unlike daily dosing, weekly administration of oral calcitriol can safely achieve such blood calcitriol concentrations. This study sought to define the long-term toxicity of this regimen and measure its effect on serum prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels in patients with hormone-naïve prostate carcinoma.